Leeds Man Scoops Gold - Monday, 5 August 2013

Cedric Vettraino – a member of the martial arts club which meets at the Royal Armouries in Leeds – struck gold yesterday (Sunday, August 4), when he stormed to victory at the Unified Taekwondo Open World Championships in London.

Cedric, aged 30, won the Unified ITF Colour Belt World Championship title in the category of Lightweight Male. He won an incredible first place (gold medal) in the sparring competition and he also secured third place (bronze) in the patterns competition.

Club spokesman Michael Clayton said, “This was Cedric’s first competition and he wowed the crowd with
a popular win. He was particularly skilful at ducking underneath his opponent’s high kicks and scoring with an angled punch causing the spectators to gasp and cheer.”

Cedric trains with the martial arts club at the Royal Armouries Museum. The club also won two other medals at the championships. Sean Oliver (age 26 – Heavyweight Male) and Miriam Jassam (age 18 – Lightweight Female) both from Leeds, each won bronze medals in their categories for sparring.

The next world championships will be in Italy in 2 years’ time, where the club hopes for more success.